Visiting Scholar from Zambia learning more about implementation research at the Gillings School
July 27, 2016
Dr. Hikabasa Halwiindi
Hikabasa Halwiindi, PhD, senior lecturer in the University of Zambia School of Medicine’s Department of Public Health, is a visiting scholar this summer with the Public Health Leadership Program and Gillings Global GatewayTM.
Halwiindi’s department was awarded a training grant by the World Health Organization’s Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases to teach Master of Public Health students about implementation science. He is meeting with various faculty members at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health to learn more about the ways such training is organized and presented at the Gillings School and to explore potential collaborations in teaching and research.
“It is a great pleasure to welcome Dr. Halwiindi to UNC,” said Rohit Ramaswamy, PhD, clinical associate professor in the Gillings School’s Public Health Leadership Program and in maternal and child health. “We already have several partnerships with the University of Zambia, and Dr. Halwiindi’s visit will strengthen this collaboration and provide opportunities for students wishing to pursue projects and practica in Zambia.”
Halwiindi’s visit also will continue to expand the Gillings School’s leadership in building global capacity in implementation science, Ramaswamy said.
“During his stay at the Gillings School,” Ramaswamy said, “Dr. Halwiindi will be adapting the curriculum we have developed for the Master of Science program in implementation science at South Africa’s Wits University for use in a similar program in Zambia.”
Halwiindi earned an undergraduate degree in biological sciences (parasitology and entomology) at the University of Zambia, master’s degree in international community health at University of Oslo (Norway) and doctorate in public health at the University of Copenhagen (Denmark).
He has consulted for a number of international organizations, including UNICEF, World Health Organization, National AIDS Council and the World Food Program, on various public health topics including HIV/AIDS prevention, infant and young child nutrition and health, water and sanitation, and tropical parasitic infectious diseases.
He will be working at the Gillings School until Aug. 8.
Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: David Pesci, director of communications, (919) 962-2600 or dpesci@unc.edu
